Thursday, April 23, 2009

Today in the News Media

Today in the News Media is a synopsis of some of the most prominent coverage of OSU people and programs. Inclusion of any item constitutes neither an endorsement nor a critique, but rather is intended only to make the OSU community aware of significant items in the media.

James Cassidy and Information Society (Gazette-Times)
James Cassidy works as a soils science instructor at Oregon State University, but he has an interesting part-time job. The 45-year-old is the bassist for Information Society, a electropop group that went huge in the late 1980s and early 1990s with hits such as “Pure Energy.”

Nature’s inspiration (Philadelphia Metro)
Biomimicked products are already out there, even if we can’t always see them. It’s by observing how mussels grip onto rocks, for example, that Dr. Kaichang Li, a professor at Oregon State University’s College of Forestry, created a glue to replace its chemical equivalent in plywood.

Today

An Ad Hoc Review Committee has been charged by the Executive Committee of the OSU Faculty Senate to review the Bacc Core, determine whether updates are needed, and if they are, recommend specific changes for the purpose of enhancing undergraduate education at OSU. A series of spring quarter focus groups have been scheduled in order to gather campus views about the structure and implementation of the Bacc Core; the remaining sessions are:
For Teaching Faculty: Today from 8 to 9 a.m. in MU 211

Music a la Carte: Rebecca Fromherz, soprano. Noon, Memorial Union Lounge.
Fromher is the 2008 recipient of the Benton County Foundation’s Lillian and Paul Petri Foreign Music Study Award.

The Helping Students Succeed Tradeshow and Career Fair at the CH2M Hill Alumni Center takes place today from 12:30 to 7 p.m. This event incorporates the Chamber’s traditional CorBiz with the career fair for all 5 high schools in Benton County in the morning. Then has teamed with OSU & LBCC welcoming all staff & students in the afternoon as well as the public. Register online for this event at www.cbchambercoalition.com or for more information, contact the Corvallis-Benton Chamber Coalition at 541-757-1505.
Event Timeline:
12:30-1:30 pm Networking Lunch for exhibitors & Volunteers
1:30-3 p.m. OSU and LBCC Communities
1:30-7 p.m. Open to the public

Would you like to learn more about bike repair or work to build your own bike? “Get to Know your Local Bicycle Co-Op” is an Earth Week event being held today from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Student Sustainability Center, 738 SW 15th St (near 15th & Western). Stop by this open house to meet other bikers, learn how to get involved, and enjoy free food.

Upcoming Events

2003 Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi of Iran will be speaking at 7:30 p.m. April 24 in the Memorial Union Ballroom. Ebadi’s tireless efforts to promote the rights of women, children, and political prisoners in Iran made her the first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Ebadi currently works and lives in Iran as a lawyer and defender of human rights and she announced Wednesday that she was joining the legal team defending an Iranian-American journalist convicted of spying and jailed in Iran. Her talk kicks off the 2009 PeaceJam N.W. Youth Conference, held in OSU’s Memorial Union April 25-26. The conference web site and registration forms can be found at: http://oregonstate.edu/peacejam/ For more information contact peacejam@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-3172.
OSU testing Emergency Alert system this Friday
Oregon State University is participating in an earthquake preparedness drill this Friday, April 24, and as part of that, will be performing a test of its Emergency Alert System at 10 a.m. that day. If you have not previously logged into the OSU system to review and modify your contact information, you are encouraged to do so prior to the test to make sure that for Friday and into the future, you’re set to receive important emergency information in exactly the way that suits you best.
To access the system, visit http://alert.oregonstate.edu/ and select “Enter your emergency contact information” on the left side of that page. You’ll be prompted to enter your ONID e-mail address and OSU ID number on the subsequent page. After that, modify your record as you see fit, inputting whatever telephone numbers, text message information and e-mail addresses are most likely to reach you or someone close to you in the event of an emergency. You can enter up to six phone numbers, two e-mail addresses and one SIMS/text message number.
Tip: In previous tests of the Emergency Alert System, we’ve found that messages are usually delivered more quickly to cell phones and home numbers than OSU land lines, due to capacity issues, and therefore recommend those as primary options for telephone notification. Text messages and e-mails are typically delivered within a few minutes of the message being sent.
Questions? Please e-mail jack.rogers@oregonstate.edu or todd.simmons@oregonstate.edu

Campus Recycling will host Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation April 24, 3 to 4:30 p.m. in 109 Strand Agriculture Hall for a presentation called “Synthetic Sea, Synthetic Me: Plastics in the Ocean.” They will share their voyage riding on a raft made from 15,000 recycled bottles to Hawaii to visit the plastic debris “island” forming in the North Pacific Ocean. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own cup for free smoothies made with a bike-powered blender!

News for Employees

NEW! The Karel J. H. Murphy Professional Faculty Leadership and Service Award recognizes a professional faculty member who has provided outstanding leadership and service throughout their career both within their Department and in programs and organizations across Oregon State University. The award also honors a legacy of providing ongoing, strategic, and progressive leadership and service among Professional Faculty and other OSU employees. This award was created by PFLA and the Dean of Engineering in order to memorialize the legacy of Karel J. Murphy, and recognizes professional faculty who unselfishly provide and model ongoing exceptional leadership and service to the OSU community. To review details of the award and criteria requirements, please go to: http://oregonstate.edu/senate/awards/nom/murphy/

INTO Oregon State University is searching to fill three positions: Academic Support Manager, Academic Support Assistant, and Receptionist. The application deadline for all three is April 27. Please visit http://oregonstate.edu/leadership/provost/office/into-osu/ for complete position descriptions.

Committee Interest Forms will be accepted through April 24. If you’d like to volunteer to serve on a university or faculty senate committee, the online form can be accessed at http://oregonstate.edu/senate/committees/forms/cif/2009/. If you have questions or wish to resign from current committee membership, please either contact your committee chair or e-mail vickie.nunnemaker@oregonstate.edu and include your name, the name of the committee from which you wish to resign, and your effective date of resignation.

The Commencement Committee is seeking volunteers to help with the 140th Commencement Ceremony to be held on June 13 at Reser Stadium. This year’s ceremony starts at 10:30 a.m. Volunteers are needed from 8 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. This is a great opportunity to assist with one of the oldest traditions at OSU. Volunteers work with guests to assist them to finding seats within the stadium and meeting the needs of over 15,000 family and friends of our graduates. For additional information and to sign up online please visit – http://oregonstate.edu/events/commencement/volunteers

Traffic and Maintenance

NEW! Due to repairs on the building hot water system, all domestic hot water services in Strand Ag will be temporarily shutdown. This will affect all rooms, on all floors. The shutdown began Wednesday and we anticipate completing repairs and restoring services by 3 p.m. Friday.

Due to annual maintenance on the campus steam distribution system, Facilities Services will need to temporarily shut-down all steam services to the campus. This will affect all hot water and heating services. The shutdown will begin at 6 p.m. on June 14 and we anticipate restoring services by 12 a.m. June 20. If you have any questions concerning the steam shutdown, contact Les Walton at 541-737-4395.

Weather

Today will be partly cloudy and 56 with an overnight low of 35. The week and into the weekend looks sunny, but highs won’t get much above 60 until next Monday, when 70 degree weather returns.